Machine for hoisting and positioning building board



Dec, 3, 1957 B. STONE 2,815,

MACHINE FOR HOISTING AND POSITIONING BUILDING BOARD Fij ed May 14, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l 8e J'fone INVENTOR 2 shee ts sheet 2 INVENTOR ZIII-llull Ben Sfone ATTORNEY as'roNE MACHINE FOR HOISTING AND POSITIONING BUILDING BOARD Filed May 14. 1955 BY Wig? United States Patent MACHINE FOR HOISTING AND POSITIONING BUILDING BOARD Ben Stone, Dallas, Tex.

Application May 14, 1956, Serial No. 584,756

7 Claims. (Cl. 214-1).

This invention relatesrto a machine for hoisting building board and more particularly tosuch a machine for positioning building board for nailing.

The principal object of the invention is to alleviate the manual labor usually required to lift and hold heavy building board in position for nailing to the wall studs or ceiling joists which necessitates the effort of more than one workman. The invention is so designed and constructed asto enable one workman to raise the. building board to its proper position where it is held until secured by nailing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hoist forv building board which by virtue' of certain; structural advantages, may be moved from room to room through connecting doors and for like reason, building board may be applied by the machine to the walls and ceilings of narrow halls and passages.

Still another object of the invention is toprovide a machine as specified in which a building board supporting flange is pivotably displaceable from operative to inoperative position as the board is elevated. into a horizontal position for positioning overhead in order that the board may be brought into juxtaposition with a wall or other boards previously applied to the overhead supporting fabrication.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide mechanism for moving a board from vertical to horizontal position as the board is moved toward the ceiling.

Other objects will appear as the description proceeds when considered with the annexed drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a rear perspective View of a building board hoisting and positioning machine constructed according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the board elevated to horizontal position.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view with parts in cross-section.

Fig. 4 isa fragmentary side elevationalview with parts in cross section but showing the board disposed in a position different from that shown in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the board supporting frame, with parts broken away.

Continuing with a more detailed description of the drawing, reference numerals and 11 denote generally a wheeled base and. a hoist column, respectively. The

base 10, as shown, consists of longitudinal members 12' (Fig. 1) affixed to spaced transverse members 13, the two end members 13 being of greater length than the inter.- mediate transverse members. 13, and each end member carries on each end a caster 14. The upright or hoist column 11 is supported on one of the longitudinal members 12" of the base near one side of the latter for reasons to be explained later and is stabilized by angle braces 15 extending from the base upwardly to the hoist column. Tofurther rigidify the column 11, an L-shaped brace 16 has one. leg afiixed: toone side of the column and the eompanionleg affixed to the longitudinal member 12. on

which the columntrests. Twdof suchbraces 16 arepro e vided, one. on each side of the column. This base and bracing arrangement can obviously take different forms without departing from the intent of the invention.

The hoist column 11 consists of the upright memben 17 which is shown as being. made of wood and which is embraced by the column 18 of light weight metal whosei vertical; edges 19 (Fig. 3) are confrontingly disposed and spaced apart to form a. vertical. slot 20 in the front of the column. Within the columnw in the channel 21 formed between. the uprightL1-7 and theinturned edges 19 of the column operates a slide 22, to which is affixed a block 23 extending outwardly through. and slidable in the slot 20, as shown in Fig. 3; Below the block 23 is alike block 24, also aflixed to the slide 22 and to these blocks 23% and 24". are secured parallel. cross members 25 by meansofwing nuts 26.

A traveling frame composed of the cross members 25 and a: p'airof. angle members 27 is caused to move verticallycon'the: face of the hoist column as the slide 22 is reciprocated in thechannel 21 of the hoist column. This is accomplished by means of a wire line 28 which is wound on the: drum- 29 of a winch, generally indicated by reference' numeral 30* in Figs. 1,. 2. and 5. The wire line extendsupwardly to the top of the upright 17 and over a pulley 31",. mounted on a shaft 32 whose ends are journaled in the: sides of. the hoist column 18 above the top of the upright 17. The end of the wire line is connected to. an: eye 33' (Figs. 3 and 4) which is secured to the lower. end of the slide 22. By actuating the crank 34, the (111111112918 rotated to wind or unwind the wire line 28, thus to; raise or lower the slide 22 and consequently the traveling. frame previously mentioned, which carries the articuated building board supporting assembly now to be described.

Attached at a to the lower end of each angle member 27 of the traveling frame is one end of an elongate drag link 35-. The opposite end of each drag link 3.5 is pivoted at b to one end of a thrust link 36. The opposite end of each of the parallel thrust links is pivoted at c to one end of a bar 37 and to these bars 37, of which two are disposed in relative parallelism, to provide a mounting for a supporting frame for building boards 38, said support ing. frame consisting of a pair of parallel slide bars 39, each having a longitudinal slot 40 (Fig. 5) through which extends a bolt 41, joining the slide bars 39 to the bars 37 so' that the former will be capable of longitudinal sliding displacement in relation to the bars 37. A Wing nut 42is threaded onto each of the bolts 41.

The board supporting frame further includes: a crossmember 43. This cross-member extends well beyond the sides of the supporting assembly to sustain the ends. of the board 38, which is usually 4' x 8. The cross-member 43 is secured to the slide bars 38 by the bolts 41 which pass through holes in the cross-member matching the slots 40 in the slide bars 38. A transverse plate 44 (Figs. 1 and 5 is secured by rivets on bolts 45 to angle brackets 46 which are in turn secured to the confronting sides of the bars, 37. A cross-plate 47 (Fig. 5) is secured: by rivets 48 to each of the slide bars 39 at their outer ends and to the outer edge of the cross-plate 47 is connected; by means of hinges 49, a rail 50 in the form of an angle' iron, whose function is to engage the edge of the board 38 and support the latter as it is elevated, in themanner to be presently described, into the positionrdesired.

The. rail 50 is moved into and out of operative position by means of a lever 51, pivoted at one end at d to.

one of the slide bars 39 and intermediate its ends at e to one end of a link 52 whose opposite end is pivoted at f to one. end of a bar 53 which is made slidable longitudinally on one of the slide bars 39 by longitudinally aligned slots 54- in the bar 53 through which bolts SS-eX-tend into the slide bar 39. By actuating the handle 51 abouttits pivot d, the link 52 will be moved to reciprocate the bar 53. The free outer end of the bar 53 will be brought up and slide under against the near flange of the hinged rail 50, causing the same to remain in a position (Figs. 1 and 3) to support a board 38, with the aid of L-shaped lugs 56, welded to the rail 50 at longitudinally spaced intervals thereon. When a board has been elevated to a desired position for nailing as in Fig. 4, the lever 51 is pulled rearwardly so that the rail 50 can fall of its own weight into inoperative position and whereby the edge of the board 38 may be thrust against the adjacent edge of a board already applied or against a wall.

The toggle arrangement responsible for changing the angular position of the board 38 consists of a lever 57, one end of which is pivoted at g to an end of a link 58. The opposite end of link 58 is pivoted at h to the drag link 35 intermediate its pivoted ends a and b.

At the opposite end of the toggle assembly, a short suspension link 59 is pivoted at one end at i to each of the angle members 2'7 at the upper ends of the latter and at 1' to one end of each of the bars 37. A stop member 60, afiixed to each of the short links 59 is brought up against the underside of the angle cross member 43 in extended position of the toggle assembly or board supporting frame, as it may be called. A stop plate 61 (Fig. 4) is also affixed at one end to the end of each of the thrust links 36 and extends past the pivotal point [2 between this link and the adjacent drag link 35 to bear against the latter in extended position of the board supporting frame to limit pivotal displacement of these links.

Atfixed by means of angle brackets 62 to each side of the hoist column 18 is a cam plate 63. The bottom end 64 of each cam plate 63 is curved rearwardly to provide a cam surface against which the free end of the lever 57 engages when the slide 22 travels upwardly in the channel track 21 of the hoist column 11.

In operation, a board 33 is placed on the board supporting frame with its lower edge resting on the supporting rail 50 and held against outward displacement by the lugs 56 on the rail 50. The crank 34 is then rotated to cause the slide 22 to move upwardly in the hoist column 11. The starting position of the board supporting frame is substantially as shown in Fig. 3. As the slide 22 continues upwardly, the free ends of the levers 57 are brought up against the curved ends 64 of the cam plates 63, causing the levers to rotate about their pivots f on the lower ends of the angle members 27 which are attached to the slide 22. As the slide continues upwardly, the levers 57 exert a pull on the drag links 35 through connecting links 58 and in turn the thrust links 36 are brought under compression by the drag links lifting the forward end of the supporting frame, until the frame assumes the horizontal position shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

When the board supporting frame is in the horizontal r position the drag links 35 and thrust links 36 are in longitudinal alignment, held so by the levers 57 and connecting links 58 and are kept from going over dead center by the stop plates 61. When the frame is in this position, the lever 51 is pulled rearwardly, causing the angle rail 50 to be tilted downwardly so that the edge of the board 38 may be moved against the adjacent edge of a board already in place. The winch 30 is provided with a latch 65 (Fig. 1) engageable selectively in holes es in the drum 29 to hold the board supporting frame in any desired position.

To elevate boards 38 for application to vertical supports, the same procedure is followed since the board supporting frame does not begin to tilt until the levers '7 engage the curved ends of the cam plates 63 which is not until maximum elevation for walls is reached.

The slots 40 in the slide bars 39 permit expansion and contraction of the width of the supporting frame so that the machine can be used in narrow passages and halls. The wing nuts 42 secure the slide bars in adjusted positions. 1

The hoist column 11 is mounted on one side of the base 10 as shown and mentioned previously to counter-balance the weight of the board and supporting frame and to make it possible to move the machine from room to room through standard width doors.

Manifestly, the construction as shown and described is capable of some modification and such modification as may be construed to fall within the scope and meaning of the appended claims is also considered to be within the spirit and intent of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A building board hoisting and positioning machine comprising, in combination with a hoist column having a vertically reciprocable slide, a traveling frame rigid with said slide, means on said hoist column for actuating said slide, a cam plate on each side of said hoist column, a pair of slide bars on which a building board is adapted to rest, parallel supporting bars for said slide bars, a toggle assembly comprising a plurality of relatively pivoted links connecting the upper and lower ends of said traveling frame with opposite ends of said parallel supporting bars, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to each side of said traveling frame and at one end to said toggle assembly, the opposite ends of said levers engaging said cam plates during upward movement of said traveling frame to cause said parallel supporting bars and said slide bars to travel through an arc in a plane parallel to said hoist column.

2. A building board hoisting and positioning machine comprising, in combination with a hoist column having a vertically reciprocable slide, a cam plate on each side of said hoist column, a traveling frame mounted on and operated by said slide, a toggle assembly composed of a pair of drag links, a pair of thrust links and a pair of suspension links, a pair of slide bars, a pair of parallel supporting bars on which said slide bars are mounted for longitudinal displacement, means pivotally connecting an end of each of said drag links to the lower end of said traveling frame, means connecting an end of each of said thrust links to an end of each of said supporting bars, means connecting said suspension links between the opposite ends of said supporting bars and the top of said traveling frame, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to each side of said traveling frame and at one end to each of said drag lings and having its opposite end free to slidably engage one of said cam plates to cause said toggle assembly to raise said supporting bars and said slide bars through an arc in a plane parallel to said hoist column when said traveling frame is reciprocated and means for actuating said slide to reciprocate said traveling frame.

3. The structure of claim 2, a rail hingedly connected intermediate its ends to the ends of said slide bars and formed to engage an edge of a building board on said slide bars and support the same in a vertical position and means for moving said rail to inoperative position.

4. A building board hoisting and positioning machine comprising, in combination with a portable hoist column having a vertically movable slide and means for actuating said slide, a building board supporting frame composed of parallel slide bars and parallel supporting bars on which said slide bars are mounted for longitudinal adjustment, a plurality of relatively pivoted links connecting said parallel supporting bars and said slide, a cam plate on each side of said hoist column and means pivotally connected between said parallel supporting bars and said slide and engaging said cam plates to cause said parallel supporting bars to travel through an arc in a plane parallel to said hoist column when said slide is actuated.

5. The structure of claim 3, a building board supporting rail hingedly connected to the ends of said slide bars' opposite said hoist column and means adjacent said hoist column having connection with said supporting rail for displacing the same and releasing a board carried on said asmi aa building board supporting frame for movement into position on a horizontal plane.

6. A building board hoisting and positioning machine comprising, in combination with a portable hoist column having a vertically movable slide and means for moving said slide, a building board supporting frame adapted to travel in an arc in a plane parallel to said hoist column and consisting of parallel slide bars supporting a building board, parallel supporting bars on which said slide bars are mounted for longitudinal adjustment, a traveling frame alfixed to said slide a plurality of links pivotally connecting the ends of said parallel supporting bars to the upper and lovver ends of said traveling frame, cam

plates carried by said hoist column and means having pivotal connection with said plurality of links and slid ably engageable with said cam plates for holding said supporting bars and said slide bars to said are when said slide is moved vertically.

7. The structure of claim 5, a rail disposed transversely of said slide bars and hingedly connected to the ends thereof opposite said hoist column for supporting a wall board at its edge in vertical position thereof and manual means for moving said rail to inoperative position to release said building board.

No references cited. 

